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Anonymous
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You would think, for an event which happens once a year and attracts business prospects and industry watchers from around the world, HAL/ADA/DRDO would at least paint their stalwart planes better. But no. How inept are these folks, seriously? It's no surprise why this is taking this long. And I'm sure this was the only plane which had a horrible paint job, unless there were more DRDO planes.

So all you guys want ADA /HAL to concentrate more on fashionable public appearance than flight testing? Guys the jet in pic is a prototype and this word itself is suffice to answer all why? ADA/HAL could have easily made available a LSP for aerobatics but they are foucused on what should be cared most. Can you accept even a

Those are sensors, but paint peeled off. A good product is a combination of good engineering, design, program management, marketing, upkeep and PR. There is nothing wrong in admiting that DRDO, is feeding the idiotic media and even worse public, who look at 'wow' factor. It was important, especially for biannual aero show hosted by India, that DRDO do something as basic painting the plane.

It's not a prototype if it has already received IOC. Or I guess it'll forever be a prototype in which case I agree. From the photos, with white uneven crap on the top and bottom of the wings, it looks like it's a 20 yr old fighter just removed from a hangar than a frontline fighter a/c. And for you folks, who think this is not as important as the engg, I have news for you. It's about selling the product finally, not just making it. The IAF is already pissed with DRDO and I'm sure the foreign manufacturers will use images like this to drill the not-yet-battle-ready point home.

Rahul, go back your RAThole. An airshow isnt a place to "test" $hit out.. people come to an airshow to see the goods, and if the goods look shit as the LCA in that pic does, then it shows how skillful DODO and HALitosis is at PR. Have you seen any US anr Western airplane at an airshow where planes look like the paint is falling off?? stick to your RATshaker site where you can have some mental masturbation.

Man why is the paint peeling off? This is happening when we are trying to showcase our achievements before an international audience?? DRDO/HAL at least you must get the paint job correct. This is basic. We don't see paint peeling off from any jet due to extreme maneuvers.

Sensors or paint chips, you want to do testing on that specific plane sure, isn't that why you have HAL airport for ? when u want to showcase a product to your employers (tax payers)& customers (IAF) there should not be testing. take 1 plane off the show do your testing. why combine both? the only caveat to this is they did not do that on the opening day but did it on rehearsal. that is fine no issues there if it is so with that, but shiv should have mentioned that these photos when the photos were taken.

It doesn't meet IAF's requirements, deadlines are constantly missed, and they don't even know how to keep paint on. Seriously, we pay these guys billions through our taxes and we rest our hopes on them to protect us!$#!!??? I would rather bet on the Europeans/Americans even if it costs me more money. Until we crack the whip, either through laying off folks who don't meet committed deadlines and requirements, nothing's gonna happen with DRDO/ADA/HAL. It's a nice cushy sarkari job where deadlines mean nothing. So good luck getting this in service before 2020.

Here is a thought, I think ADA deliberately left it unpainted to drive home the point how under funded indegenous programs in India are. Remember the bucket of water instead of champagne because tejas program budget doesn't allow it? See the pattern?

I have a weird thought.Look at the 1st pic where the paint in the vertical fin and the fuselage seems to have been peeled off. The rest of the pics do not show that. Could it be that its the Sun's reflection, coupled by the camera's resolution that is giving off the illusion? Doesn't seem likely of course, but the vertical fin difference in the 1st and the other pics forces me to think like this. It does seem strange that the DRDO would allow a half painted tejas to fly in an airshow where it hopes to sell stuff, much less the IAF.

HI Dear friends, The white patches on LCA is not the paint peeling off. These patches are special strips to have the uniform conductivity of the aircraft. and these strips will be peeling of when the aircraft does low level and high speed sortie.After every such sortie these strips will be replaced. I just want to say as of today LCA has done 1500 plus flights and the aircraft's which are flying in aeroindia have gone through such low level & High speed trails 100's of 100 times as part of flight testing. so just think the performance & Capabilty of LCA . you just rewind and see 5 tejas aircrafts formation flight on inagural day.How the bottom surface of wing looks.it's so clean so before commenting some thing just think. And ofcourse the painting is nothing for HAL/ADA . which was not done due to priority of flight testing.

it doesn't matter if this has been tested 1500 hours. this is an airshow. every company and country comes there to sell their wares. frankly, even the DRDO/ADA needs to do a lot of selling to the IAF on the LCA. yet, they don't focus on the basics of selling. make it look good for gods sake. you may have the best specs, but in the fighter business if it ain't sexy, no one's thinking about it and if it's ugly, forget about it.

do you really expect people to buy something if it looks like sh1t? does it inspire confidence in a product?

just look at this pic from the blog : http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_o_no4M2xEPY/TVJTWwGI8uI/AAAAAAAAMgw/tHYN-TXCUfI/s1600/VKSL3647-722638.JPG

i don't think i've seen photos this bad of the tejas even when it was tested, least of all in an airshow with hundreds of global companies, defense personnel and competition watching. if this was a private company, somebody would have been fired by now.

It's a sexy aircraft in raw looks and performance, but we dress it up horribly. What it needs is someone who understands aerospace marketing and PR. If HAL/ADA can manage to contract somebody for that, it's gonna win orders from home and abroad easily.